Base station enclosure for incorporation with a light pole or street fixture

ABSTRACT

A conventional lamp post comprises a mast ( 5 ) carrying a lamp unit ( 6 ) and with an enclosure ( 8 ) at its base, incorporating power and control circuitry for the lamp unit ( 6 ). In addition, however, one or more antennas ( 10, 12 ) for the base station of a cellular telephone system is or are mounted on the mast ( 5 ). The circuitry for the base station is mounted in an enclosure ( 14 ) which is immediately adjacent to the base of the lamp post and electrically connected to the antenna ( 10, 12 ). By incorporating the components of the base station on and immediately adjacent to the lamp post, a base station can be located within an urban environment and with minimal physical or visual impact. Any other suitable item of normal street furniture can be used instead of a lamp post. The circuitry of the base station can be incorporated in the item of street furniture itself, instead of in a separate enclosure ( 14 ). Some of the circuitry of the base station is common with some of the circuitry for the street furniture.

The invention relates to an enclosure for the circuitry of a basestation of a cellular telephone system which receives signals from andsupplies signals to an antenna of the system, in which the enclosureincludes further circuitry for controlling an item of street furniture.

The invention also relates to an item of street furniture, additionallyincorporating or carrying an antenna for a base station of a cellulartelephone system, in combination with an enclosure for containing thecircuitry of the base station, the enclosure being the same enclosurewhich includes circuitry for use in the principal function of the itemof street furniture.

Such an enclosure is shown, for example, in EP-A-0 710 999. In thiscase, the enclosure is a telephone booth which includes circuitry forthe base station of the cellular telephone system, the booth carrying anantenna for the cellular telephone system and also including circuitryfor the public telephone in the telephone booth.

Such an enclosure is also shown in WO 98 10529. Here, the enclosureincludes circuitry for the base station of a cellular telephone systemand also includes further circuitry for supplying power to an item ofstreet furniture which is in the form of a street lamp also carrying anantenna for the cellular telephone system.

In the known enclosures, they simply act as a container for thecircuitry of the base station and for the item of street furniture (thepublic telephone or the street lamp). The invention aims to provide moreeffective use of such an enclosure.

Accordingly, the enclosure as first set forth above is characterised inthat part of the circuitry of the base station is common to part of thefurther circuitry.

In another aspect, the invention also relates to an item of streetfurniture, additionally incorporating or carrying an antenna for a basestation of a cellular telephone system, in combination with an enclosurefor containing the circuitry of the base station, the enclosure beingthe same enclosure which includes circuitry for use in the principalfunction of the item of street furniture.

Such an item of street furniture is shown, for example, in EP-A-0 710999 referred to above, where it takes the form of the public telephone,and in WO 98 10529, also referred to above, where it takes the form ofthe street lamp. The invention in its second aspect aims to make moreefficient use of the juxtaposition of the item of street furniture(public telephone or street lamp) and the base station of the cellulartelephone system. Accordingly, the item of street furniture as first setforth above is characterised in that at least part of the circuitry forthe base station is common with part of the circuitry for the principalfunction of the item of street furniture.

Cellular telephone base stations and antenna arrangements embodying theinvention will now be described, by way of example only, with referenceto the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an internal view of a housing forming part of the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 2; and

FIGS. 4,5,6,7 and 8 are elevational views of further embodiments.

Cellular telephone systems require a number of geographicallydistributed base stations each having a transmitting and receivingantenna by means of which radio signals are transmitted to and frommobile cellular telephones temporarily located within the area coveredby the base station. Such signals include signals to and from the mobiletelephone for registering its presence within that particular area andfor use in recording that location in a visitor location register or insome other part of the system, signals for authenticating the mobiletelephone to enable calls to be made to and from it, signals carryingvoice, data or other digital information from the mobile telephone orother such equipment to other telephones (mobile or fixed), and signalscarrying voice, data or other digital information from such othertelephones to the mobile telephone or other such equipment. When themobile telephone moves from within the transmitting/receiving area ofthe antenna of one base station and into the corresponding area ofanother base station, the mobile is “handed over” to the new basestation. To provide effective operation of a mobile telephone it is ofcourse essential that base stations and their associated antennas bepositioned sufficiently close together to provide uninterruptedoperation, taking account of the local environment. In particular,problems can arise in urban environments. Firstly, large and solidbuildings within an urban environment may limit the effective range ofeach base station, requiring the base stations to be closer togetherthan they might be in a more open or rural environment. Secondly, localplanning authorities may be very reluctant to allow a proliferation ofbase stations and their associated antennas within urban, suburban orrural environments.

According to a feature of the embodiments being described, therefore, atleast part of a base station-antenna combination is located in and/or onan item of street furniture—such as (for example) a lamp post, a supportpost for close circuit television (CCTV) apparatus, posts for trafficlights, direction signs or road signs in general, shop signs, litterbins and any other suitable item of street furniture—or an item formingpart of the structure of a building such as a rain-water drain pipe. Inthis way, therefore, a base station-antenna combination can bephysically situated within an urban environment without havingsubstantially any additional physical or visual effects on theenvironment. Thus, the item of street furniture, or being part of thestructure of a building, on which the base station-antenna combinationis mounted, or in which part only of that combination is mounted, ispresent in the environment or is already accepted into the environmentdue to its appearance, and the additional visible part may only comprisethe base station antenna which is small and of minimal visual impact. Inmany cases, the circuitry of the base station may be incorporated in anenclosure which is already part of the item of street furniture—forexample, the enclosure forming the lower part of a lamp post or a CCTVpost as will be described in more detail below.

FIG. 1 shows a lamp post comprising a mast 5 carrying a lamp unit 6 andhaving an enlarged enclosure 8 at its foot which will include controlcircuitry for the lamp unit 6 such as its power supply and a timer orpossibly a photo-electric control unit. In accordance with a feature ofthe invention, one or more antennas 10,12 is also mounted on the mast 6,these antennas being antennas of a base station of a cellular telephonesystem. In this embodiment, the circuitry of the base station is mountedin an additional enclosure 14 which is positioned on the ground,adjacent the foot of the mast 5 and is connected to the antennas 10,12.

The antennas 10,12 are small in size and mounted considerably abovepedestrians and traffic. They will therefore have minimal visual impact.The enclosure 14 is also small in size and of standard street furnitureappearance. Because of this, and because it is mounted immediatelyadjacent the foot of the lamp post mast 5, it also will have only asmall physical and visual impact.

In a modification, however, the circuitry of the base station can bemounted within the enclosure 8 of the lamp post itself, instead of in aseparate enclosure 14. In such a case, it may be necessary to enlargethe enclosure 8 but this may be done to an extent which is hardlynoticeable.

In another modification, the enclosure 14 is not mounted immediatelyadjacent to the lamp post but is mounted a short distance away, such ason, in or immediately adjacent to a neighbouring building and connectedto the lamp post and the antennas 10,12 via connections under thepavement or roadway. If such an enclosure 14 is mounted outside thebuilding, it can be shaped and coloured, relative to the shape andcolour of the building, so that, again, it has minimal physical orvisual impact.

In FIG. 2, a mast 20 for supporting a CCTV camera 22 has an enclosure 24in which is located the control and power circuits for the camera, suchas for energising and adjusting the attitude of the camera. Inaccordance with a feature of the invention, the mast 20 also carries anantenna 26 which is the antenna of a cellular telephone base station. Inthis example, the circuitry for the base station can be located withinthe enclosure 24 if it is of a suitable size. Again, however, thecircuitry for the base station could be incorporated within a separateenclosure located either immediately near the enclosure 24 or at someother location where its physical and visual impact is small.

In the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, where the enclosure 24will incorporate circuitry of some complexity for energising andcontrolling the CCTV camera 22, it may advantageously be possible toarrange for at least some of the circuitry for the camera and for thebase station to be common—such as the power supply and perhaps some ofthe processing circuitry for the signals to be transmitted to and from adistant location. The use of such common circuitry enables the size ofthe enclosure 24 to be reduced.

FIG. 3 illustrates an internal view of one form which the housing 24 cantake. As shown, it comprises a metal casing 25 having an access door 26and with a vertically arranged support plate 27. The latter carries anumber of circuit units. Unit 28 is the circuitry for the base station.Unit 29 is the circuitry for the CCTV camera 22. These units are ofcourse connected to the antenna 26 and to the camera 22 respectively(see FIG. 2).

Each unit 28,29 requires a power supply. Power is obtained from a commonpower supply unit 30 which is energised by the local mains supply(normally via an underground connection, not shown) and provides theappropriate output supplies for the units 28 and 29.

Each unit 28,29 also requires input and output signal lines. Thus, thebase station unit 29 receives input signals for controlling itsoperation and for carrying telecommunications signals between the basestation and the central switch of the cellular telephone system (thatis, signals relating to telephone calls made to and by the mobiletelephones within the cell serviced by the base station). The camera 22receives input signals for controlling its operation and produces outputsignals carrying the camera output to the central monitoring station.These input and output signals to and from the units 28 and 29 aresupplied via the local PSTN network, through a unit 31. Unit 31 isconnected to the local PSTN lines (normally by underground connections,not shown), and feeds the appropriate signals to and receives them fromthe units 28 and 29. A significant amount of the circuitry in the unit31 is common to the operation of the base station and the camera.

Because the power unit 30 and the signalling unit 31 are common to thebase station unit 28 and the CCTV unit 29, efficient use is made of thespace within the housing 24 which can thus be of minimum size.

Advantageously, the housing 24 is provided with a cooling system tolimit any rise in temperature caused by heat generated by the equipmentwithin the housing and by the external ambient temperature. As shown inFIG. 3, this cooling may be provided by a fan 32 which draws fresh airinto the casing 25 through inlet grills or openings 33 and blows hot airout through exit grills or openings 34. It is found that satisfactorycooling can be achieved, without generating more than minimal noise.Instead, however, more sophisticated air management or cooling may beprovided, such as air-conditioning and possibly including means forcontrolling the ambient temperature within the enclosure.

In a modification of the housing 24 of FIG. 3, for use with a lamp postsuch as shown in FIG. 1, the unit 29 which in FIG. 3 controls the camera22 may be replaced by a unit which controls the lamp 6. This unit wouldreceive power from the common power supply 30 and could receive controlsignals via the unit 31. Again, such a housing could be provided with acooling fan and grills or openings like the housing 24 of FIG. 3, ormore sophisticated air management or cooling arrangements, such asair-conditioning and temperature control arrangements.

FIG. 4 shows a view along a road within an urban environment, showingthe road surface 36, the pavement 38, and a building 40 carrying a sign42 such as bearing the name of a shop in the building or being someother advertising or informational sign for example. The Figure shows anenclosure 44 in which is incorporated the circuitry of a base stationfor a cellular telephone system. The circuitry is connected via suitablyconcealed connections to an antenna 46 mounted on or in the sign 42.Again, therefore, the antenna 46 has minimal physical and visual impactor is invisible, and the enclosure 38 is designed to achieve the sameend. The enclosure may incorporate circuitry associated with the sign42, and some of this circuitry may be common with some of the circuitsfor the base station.

In an advantageous modification of the arrangement shown in FIG. 4, theenclosure 44 may be located within the building so as to have noexternal physical or visual impact, as shown dotted at 44A.

FIG. 5 shows a modification of the arrangement shown in FIG. 4. In FIG.5, the antenna is shown dotted at 48, being mounted within the sign 42and therefore completely invisible.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the sign 42 is mounted flaton the front face of the building and is therefore shown in end view inthese Figures. In FIG. 6, the antenna is shown at 50 and is mountedexternally on the sign. In FIG. 7, the antenna is shown dotted at 52 andis mounted within the sign.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, a miniaturised version of thebase station circuitry may also be incorporated in or on the sign.

FIG. 8 shows another modification. In FIG. 8, the antenna 54 is mountedwithin a rain water drain pipe shown at 56. The drain pipe 56 may be anactual drain pipe of the building, such as serving a gutter 57, or itmay be an artificial drainpipe, that is, a hollow pipe attached to theexternal surface of the building to provide a housing for the antennabut not actually performing the function of a drain pipe. In eithercase, the presence of the antenna within the drain pipe will not beexternally visible. The base station may be positioned as shown at 44 or44A in FIGS. 4 to 7 or elsewhere, such as within the building itself.The antenna 54 may be mounted within the drain pipe in any suitable wayso as to extend vertically within it.

It will be appreciated that many modifications can be made. Inparticular, and using the principles disclosed, antennas for cellulartelephone base stations can be mounted on or in a variety of other typesof street furniture, and either the circuitry for the base station canbe also incorporated therein or a circuitry for the base station can belocated at a suitable adjacent point such as outside or inside aneighbouring building.

1. A mast, a closed circuit television camera carried by the mast, saidmast additionally incorporating or carrying an antenna for a basestation of a cellular telephone system, said mast being in combinationwith an enclosure for containing the circuitry of the base station, saidenclosure also including circuitry for use with the closed circuittelevision camera, in which at least part of the circuitry of the basestation is common with part of the circuitry for use with the closedcircuit television camera, and in which the common part of the circuitryincludes processing circuitry for carrying signals to or from the basestation circuitry and the circuit for the closed circuit televisioncamera.
 2. A mast according to claim 1, in which the common part of thecircuitry includes power supply circuitry.
 3. The mast according toclaim 2, wherein the processing circuitry is adopted to carry signals toa distant location from the base station circuitry and the circuitry foruse with the closed circuit television camera, and from the distantlocation to the base station circuitry and the circuitry for use withthe closed circuit television camera.
 4. The mast according to claim 2,in which the power supply circuitry is energized by a local mains supplyand provides an appropriate output supply to elements of said circuitryfor use with the camera and to elements of said circuitry of the basestation.
 5. A mast according to claim 1, which is associated with butphysically separate from the enclosure.
 6. A mast according to claim 1,which is physically combined with the enclosure.
 7. A mast according toclaim 1, including means for cooling or ventilating the interior of theenclosure.
 8. A mast according to claim 7, including means forcontrolling the ambient temperature in the enclosure.
 9. The mastaccording to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is adapted tocarry signals to a distant location from the base station circuitry andthe circuitry for use with the closed circuit television camera, andfrom the distant location to the base station circuitry and the circuitfor the closed circuit television camera.
 10. The mast according toclaim 1, in which the circuitry of the base station receives inputsignals for controlling its operation and for carrying outputtelecommunications signals between the base station and a central switchof the cellular telephone system.
 11. The mast according to claim 1, inwhich the circuitry for the closed circuit television camera receivesinput signals for controlling the camera and produces output signalscarrying an output of the camera to a monitoring station.
 12. The mastaccording to claim 10, in which the input and output signals of thecircuitry of the base station are supplied via a PSTN network.
 13. Themast according to claim 11, in which the input and output signals of thecircuitry for use with the closed circuit television camera are suppliedvia a PSTN network.
 14. The mast according to claim 13, including a unitconnected to the PSTN network for feeding input signals to and receivingoutput signals from the circuitry of the base station and the circuitryfor use with the closed circuit television camera.
 15. A mast accordingto claim 1, in which the processing circuitry for carrying signals to orfrom the base station circuitry and the circuitry and the circuit forthe closed circuit television camera is for carrying signals to adistant location from the base station circuitry and the circuit for theclosed circuit television camera, and from the distant location to thebase station circuitry and the circuit for the closed circuit televisioncamera.